People keep disregarding Blastoise's attack, but in fact, he's a better
attacker than Scyther, one of the most popular fighters out there.  Like
Scyther and his swords dance, Blastoise can do 60 damage on the second
turn:  Start with Squirtle, use the vast deck controll resources
typically found in a Rain Dance deck (Prof. Oak, Bill, the opening hand,
etc.) to get a Blastoise and a Pokemon Breeder, on the second turn use
them, then raindance away!  After the second turn, Scyther only does 60
damage every two turns, while Blastoise can do 120 damage in that same
span.  And with Scyther, you have to rely on drawing Double Colorless
Energy; the decks he appears in often do not have many of the card
drawing capabilities of Rain Dance Decks.  Plus, in addition to having
such a good fighter in Blastoise, he becomes the backbone of a very
effective deck.  And if Blastoise gets knocked out, you could have used
his power to prep a fully powered Articuno or another Blastoise.  Then
there is the 100HP...

Now, don't get me wrong, Scyther is still a great card, and a better
all-around pokemon in certain decks and situations.  The zero retreat
cost and the resistance factors are in Scyther's favor.  If your
opponent goes first and gets out a second-turn Aerodactyl, or if your
opponent starts with a Fossil Voltorb, or uses Mew (shudder), or uses a
Stall deck, you are seriously debilitated.  There are ways around that,
however (Gust of Wind, have Squirtle start on the bench, strike first,
and strike hard + GOW for Mr. Mime).

-Ad Infinitum
nowandforever@netscape.net